The Moving Mantle
by DoctorKnight
Summary: Shindo Hikaru did not want Sia's signature fan. He wanted him back in his life, not dead, not gone. Bypassing the fan being held out to him, he grabbed his teacher's wrist instead.


Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru.

-O-

 **[Hikaru No Go: Chapter 148]**

 ** _"Don't go! Say something! Don't Disappear! Sai."_**

 ** _The ghost holds out his fan for the young man to take._**

 ** _"Sai?"_**

-O-

Shindou Heihachi was old. He thought so at least. His grandson had a full time job after all. He also swore that brat was trying to give him a heart attack.

Hikaru didn't like go, then he suddenly gets halfway decent and wants a goban with legs. A matter of weeks later, Mitsuko comes over saying Hikaru is now an insei and asks what a pro entails. That boy goes from saying go is an old man's game to becoming a pro in just about two years. He was so proud and showed the _Go Weekly_ article to the guys at the go salon. That brat could kick his butt six ways to Sunday.

 _"He needs a Kaya goban now that he's a pro… There's that one in the attic. I could get it exorcised."_ It was early morning as he grunted getting off his chair, having just finished his morning tea. Lumbering up to the loft he wondered why he never put actual stairs in. The Ladder wasn't going to do him any favors in a decade or so. The attic was as dusty and messy as ever. _"I haven't been up here since Hikaru collapsed."_

And there was the goban sitting in the middle of the room where it had been left.

It still gave him the creeps. His brother just had to tell him that ghost story before his passing. His stupid brother knew he was superstitious.

-O-

In the white world, the ghost smiles sadly, but proudly.

Hikaru reaches out toward the fan.

"No." His voice quivers with frustration and longing. His hand moves past the fan and pulls Sai to himself.

Hikaru opens his eyes.

 _"A dream_." He thinks.

-O-

 _"It still gives me the creeps. I'll wait until the next time he comes over to ask that brat if he wants it."_ Heihachi turned to go back down the ladder. His wife wanted him to help her in the garden after he had finished his breakfast. It down poured last night so this meant the weeds would be easier to pull.

 **Plip…Plip…Plop-Shuuuuuuuu**

Water hit the back of his legs. He turned around and a feeling of dread and fear swept through him. Water was flowing out of the CURSED goban. He couldn't move or take his eyes off the image in front of him. It left him unprepared for the flash of blinding white light.

"Ahh!" He covered his eyes and heard a **Thump.**

Heihachi blinked away the spots in his sight, then rubbed his eyes to get this image out of his head.

A soaked body laded on the floor in what Heihachi might have confused for blankets. The skin was sickly blue and long, long, long, hair was spread out across the body.

 **Cough! Hack! Cough!** "Uhhh…" The spirit moaned. The old man was terrified. He saw a movie trailer with a scene like this once. It did not end well, so he froze to his spot, evil spirits got angry when they had to chase their prey. "Ohhhh… Hikaru…Hikaru, was- what's… go- going… o- on? It'ssss sssooo cold!" The body- male- was shivering as they lifted their arms slowly to move the hair behind their back. Hair cleared away and now in an almost kneeling position the room's two occupants made eye contact.

"Oh. It's Hikaru's Grandfather-san… I wo- wonder where Hikaru is…" Heihachi swallowed. He would not be scared, his grandson was at stake. He clenched his hands.

 **"** What do you want with my grandson evil spirit?!" Glassy purple eyes came into focus now _seeing_ the older looking man.

"You can… you can _see_ me?" Eyes widened, "You ca- can!" Pale pale pale, shaking hands clasped together, "Please, is Hikaru alright? I was just wi- with him I think. I ca- can't remember very well. I just kn- know it's been a while! What is the date? Why… why is it so cold? I can feel?" The male was looking around frantically and clumsily, but also sluggishly. A moment and eyes were locked again. "I'm so- sorry to bother you sssir, but could you please tell me h-how Hi-Hikaru is?"

Heihachi stared eyes narrowed, "… He is fine. Why?"

"That's a a relief!" A happy, so happy, expression appeared on the goban spirit. It fell slightly when _it_ noticed Heihachi's expression. "I haven't seen h- him in a while I th- think… I was with him until May f- fifth I believe the date was. I am, was, is, I don't know anymore, a ghost. I was never this c- cold or could feel wetness before. Am I still a spirit?" A shake of his head to clear the fuzzy thought away, "I possessed Hikaru for two years." The intense look on the grandfather's face worsened for a moment then went blank.

"I don't mean taking over hi- his body! Never! I- I-m not evil!" His voice raised on the last declaration. "I play Go. I played Go. I _lived_ Go. I t- taught Go. I taught Hi- Hikaru Go." That smile was back. "He let me play go when I could n- not move the stones! He is so _kind._ " **Cough! Cough! Cough!** Quietly, with his body swaying, "… Thank you for letting me know Hikaru is doing well… Oh… I- I know y- you Shindo-san, but you d- don't kn- kn- know m- me. I've been a ghost for over a thousssand years n- now. My n- name is F- Fujiwara no S- Sai. It's nice to meet…"

The Grandfather of Hikaru watched as the ghost collapsed. The sound of the being hitting the floor restarted his brain. " _He taught Hikaru? Two years? Two years and some months is the length Hikaru started playing go… Being **possessed** could have started his very sudden interest… The hospital. He went to the hospital after finding this goban and then is attention focused on go."_ Thought flew through his head just as fast as when he and his bother used to travel, getting into and out of trouble together. " _He cares. This ghost my brother left unknowingly- better have been unknowingly- cares... My son hasn't shown that he **cares** since his to-important-to-have-family-time job swallowed him up."_

 **Cough.**

The light cough in the otherwise silent room got him to think. " _He needs help. Fujiwara no Sai claims he taught Hikaru go, his passion."_ The _man_ was shivering fiercely, _"I can help."_ "Oh shit! He needs help!" He got over to Fujiwara no Sai as fast as he could, and is proud to eventually say he hesitated only a moment before touching his neack to check for a pulse. Which he had, but very weak. The blue tinted skin should have prepared him for how cold the body was. _A ghost has a body. A dying ghost. The man is dying!_

After he finished the mini panic attack, he yelled to his wife. She did say to meet her in the garden. "Call the hospital! We need an ambulance!"

"What!?" Yelled his wife, "Are you O.K."

"I'm fine, just please go call now!" Kami bless her, she did with no further questions or hesitation. In the minutes that followed Heihachi was worked to get the man out of the white rope and the red-purple kimono under it. The drenched clothes were doing no favors.

"I called. I acted hysterically so they couldn't ask me too many questions." Shindo Sachiko spoke breathlessly as she claimed the stupid loft ladder. After reaching the top, she took in the scene of water everywhere and the no longer shivering longhaired man. A hat and robe were discarded next to he husband. Joined him next to the unconscious person, "Who is he? An intruder? What's wrong with him." Considering what was his state of dress, she did not believe her second question.

"I believe he's a friend of Hikaru's," Still a bit mystified by what he just witnessed, "He was choking on water and he won't stop shivering. Please bring some towels, blankets, and clothes if you can find any."

She nodded and left the loft. After finishing pulling of the kimono, Heihachi started to ring out Fujiwara's excessively long hair. The floor was already wet, so why not? He needed something to do to help and keep his mind off the fact that he APPEARED FROM THE CURSED GOBAN and knows his adorable grandson.

When the ambulance came, Hikaru's grandfather went with the paramedics. This situation may greatly alarm him, but this involved Hikaru and he loved Hikaru. It's what is pushing him to face his fear.

-O-

 **Beep…Beep…Beep**

 _"What? ...What's that sound?"_ Sai opened his eyes. He took in the ceiling then what was in front of him. Sai was confused. No, he was more than confused. He was so confused that he had no word to describe the magnitude of his confusion; almost as confusing as why more people don't play go. More people need to play go.

Sai tried to shake his head, but he was so cold, tired, and slow. He was with Hikaru, he _thinks_ , and had been trying to give him his fan? But Hikaru… didn't want it… he had grabbed his, Sai's arm instead. Then he fell. His chin hit something hard and it _hurt_. The ground hurt him when he fell. Cold, he was wet and freezing cold. Hikaru's grandfather, Shindo-san, was there. He stood there and listened to Sai. He could hear him and see him. He was tired, and having not experienced any feeling for over one thousand years, it was too much. That much Sai can recall. He had only wanted to give Hikaru his fan, he was so proud of his student.

Now he was in a so so so soft bed in white room. " _Like that one from after I possessed Hikaru, or Touya Koyo's room at building of healing."_ He thought so at least, he'd only been to a modern one three times in his existence. He looked further around the room to see that it was a machine beeping and that he was not alone.

Shindo-san was sitting in a chair diagonal to his bed; a hard look was being given to him. Sai could feel the sweat drop on the back of his head and gave a shaky smile.

"Hello." He starts a little shaky, "You are Hikaru's grandfather, correct? I would like to thank you Shindo-san for bring me to this healing place. It is a healing place is it not? I am exceedingly confused at the moment so please be patient with me." Having sat up a bit, he nodded his head being unable to bow.

"Shindo Heihachi," The other occupant says gruffly with his arms crossed. "What are you? Spirit of the goban? You claimed to be a ghost, but you are too solid, human. Are you one of those zombie things?"

Unsure of what a 'zombie' was, Sai elected to ignore it as a future thing. "I am a ghost, or at least I was? I don't know anymore. I believe I remember introducing myself, but my name is Fujiwara no Sai. I was a go tutor for the Emperor durning what is now known as the Heian

era until I died. I have been a ghost ever since. But now… I don't know. I haven't truelly touched anything in years… centuries… and now I can _feel_ the achs in my body, how I am shivering as I lay here. I can feel this bed." Sai slowly lifts a visibly trembling hand to the top of the blankets, giving them a stroke, "It's so soft. How do you make it so soft in this time?"

Heihachi would have written the guy off as being mentally impaired, but he had witnessed the man appear. And no matter how people joke with him, he is not senile. He knows what he saw. Heihachi has lived an experienced life and would like to say he can catch most lies he hears. The man, as far as he can tell, is truly baffled.

"You will tell me your story, your Full story. How you know Hikaru, your connection to him, everything in detail." Sai tried to nod as eagerly as he could, "But first, I am gong to get a nurse. You have one of the worst every cases of prolonged hypothermia." Sai tilted his head in question eyes starting to droop but alert. "You have a dangerously low body temperature at the moment. You will answer all question in how you are feeling, but leave out or deflect any personal questions. We will be talking first, understood? People in this day and age don't believe as much in the supernatural any more. Shows what they know."

"Hikaru-kun implied the same to me when we first met. He did not want to be considered crazy and put in a 'madhouse.'" Sai replied with a small, understanding smile. Heihachi stood up.

"He's a smart brat and apparently a decent liar." Eye contact made, "You care for him."

"Hikaru-kun is my student and one of the best friends I have ever had. If he had been my student 1000 years ago, I would have asked the head of my clan to adopt him. I am so proud of him." The expression and voice tone spoke volumes. Heihachi had an epiphany.

"May 5th."

"Excuse me?"

"You left him May 5th you said. Does Innoshima mean anything to you," The question asked.

"Eh?" Sai looked surprised, "That's where Torajirō was born. Hikaru is not the first person I have possessed." He saw the man blink and continued,

"About 140 years ago I possessed a kind man by the name of Torajirō Kuwabara and taught him the ways of go. He let me play as much as I wanted! The world today mostly knows him as Honinbo Shuusaku. When he pasted away on top of his goban, the goban in your attic, that was when my spirit attached itself to it. Until Hikaru-kun came along." Stunned and gobsmacked defined Shindo-san in that instant.

"I have Honinbo Shuusaku's goban… You taught Honinbo Shuusaku… You have taught the greatest go player in history."

"Ummm, actually… Torajirō didn't play people often." Sai came back into focus for Shindo-san. "Most of the Kifu's I have seen today that are 'Honinbo Shuusaku's' are ones I played. I think only one or two that I have looked over with Hikaru, were Torajirō-san's."

"You…I am leaving. I am getting that nurse. You will remain awake until we return. We will be talking. I am not senile." Shindo Heihachi left the room in a daze. He had a wife that needed to be convinced, some calls to make, and favors that needed to be turned in. Many favors. Not just because Hikaru was taught by the greatest go player of all time, if the ex-ghost was to be believed, but also because of the emotion shown. Hikaru quit go on May 5th. He traveled to Innoshima all for seemingly no reason. He only just started playing again in recent days, months later.

The nurses believed Heihachi's story that Sai got caught in the rainstorm for the whole night. He did not give them a family name as the Fujiwara family was rumored to keep tabs on their members. His son was basically absentee in his grandson's life. Hikaru could use a family member to lean on… Maybe he was going senile?

~~~~~~O~~~~~

A/N: I am scattered brained and don't update often. Thank you for reading my story. Please leave comments. I have a few scenes hand written, but ideas are very helpful. My problems lie with transition scenes.


End file.
